18

Last Day of Service

Location: La Carpio

Today we celebrated Ashley’s 16th birthday! Feliz Cumple as they say in Costa Rica. It also happened to be the last day of the student led service projects. We entered La Carpio for one last time to do some home maintenance and organizing in the Library. We managed to paint almost an entire block transforming rusty sheet metal into a rainbow of colors. The locals even came out and helped us clean up the street. They had us paint a sign on the wall asking people to put trash in its proper place. We also stamped and organized boxes and boxes of books in the library. And to top things off we continued to help our friend Macho’s family build a more solid home. At the end of the day we gathered and watched a play by the women of La Carpio depicting their story. It is hard to imagine living through such circumstances. We left feeling like we have made connections and positive influences that will last even if our memories fade. To top off the day we gathered with all of our homestay families to have a large dinner and celebration followed by a talent show. Everyone participated and some of the funnier skits included hair styling demonstrations and a hilarious attempt at making an ice cream Sunday. Many even wrote their own poetry to share. It felt more like a large family by the end of the evening.